


Past Tense

by mari4212



Category: Protector of the Small - Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Bechdel Test Pass, Dark Agenda, Female Character of Color, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, Gen, Misses Clause Challenge, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-20
Updated: 2011-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-27 16:26:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/297790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mari4212/pseuds/mari4212
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three moments in the lives of Buri, Thayet, and Kalasin of Sarain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Past Tense

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chibideath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibideath/gifts).



> When you get to the third section, I apologize, but this steps one universe to the left of the canon. Alternately, Buri lied a bit to Alanna to save Thayet some remembered pain.

Buri was four years old, the first time she heard Thayet’s name. Her mother had served the Queen, Kalasin, since the both of them had been young girls riding in the K’miri clan holdings, the chieftan’s daughter and her guard. Buri’s mother had not hesitated to follow her lady to the Warlord’s court; taking her children along in those early days of the marriage, when there was still hope for peace between the K’mir and the Lowlanders. Buri had toddled after her mother and Queen Kalasin all the days of the queen’s pregnancy, with a child’s mingled awe at the queen’s beauty and absolute disregard for the vagaries of rank and stature that divided them when they were in the Warlord’s palace. Kalasin had always laughed, and said that Buri would be as much of a friend to her child as Buri’s mother had been to her. The queen was always laughing, then.

She was too young then to understand how delicate the balance of power really was, how fragile Kalasin’s position had been as the linchpin in an unsteady alliance between K’mir and Lowland. Far too young then to understand the Warlord’s fury when Thayet was born, instead of the son the astrologists and soothsayers had predicted. Too young to understand, but not too young to sense the worry and fear in her normally fearless mother, nor the tension and pain in Queen Kalasin’s face when the Warlord turned his back on her.

All of that ceased to matter to Buri when, a few weeks after the birth, her mother led her into the Jin’s nursery, sat her down in an attendent’s chair, and placed a warm, squirming bundle into Buri’s arms, her rough palms still gentle as she showed Buri how to hold the child. “This is Thayet,” she said, pitching her deep voice low to avoid waking the baby. “I want you to look after her and be her friend, like I am for Queen Kalasin. Will you do that for me, Buriram?

Buri dropped her gaze down to little Thayet. As if she knew she was being watched, Thayet squirmed again, then opened her eyes and blinked sleepily up at Buri. Buri stared back into Thayet’s eyes for a long moment, then snuggled the baby tighter against her chest and looked back at her mother. “She’s my baby,” she said, and couldn’t understand why her mother laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Buri, slow down!” Thayet yelled, kicking her heels at her pony, while the pony refused to move out of its own steady walk. Buri looked back at the pouting Princess and smothered a smile before circling back to ride alongside Thayet in the procession. Six-year-old Thayet had been riding for a year now, and was fast outgrowing the sleepy old pony that the Jin had given her to learn to ride on. The Queen had told both Buri and her mother that when they reached the K’mir clan gathering she would be buying a replacement pony for Thayet, one with a spirit to match up to the princess’s mettle.

This was the first time in three years that Queen Kalasin would be able to attend the annual summer gathering of all the K’mir clans. It would be the first time the Princess would ever attend and see her people living as they wished, not crowded into audience halls or city streets on business. The only thing which marred Buri’s joy at this was the memory of how the queen had been forced to beg the Warlord for the right to attend. It pricked at Buri’s pride to see Queen Kalasin in all her dignity stooping to plead with anyone, much less her husband who was supposed to honor her.

But for Thayet, four years younger and still somewhat sheltered from the tensions at court between her parents and their peoples, this trip was all joy. Buri knew she was simply excited to be leaving on what to her was a grand adventure, a chance to see the people she’d heard so many stories about from the Queen and from Buri’s mother.

Buri straightened slightly in the saddle, thinking ahead to the clan gathering with excitement herself. Queen Kalasin and Thayet might not have been able to attend each year, but the queen had insisted on sending Buri’s family every year so that they might still be a part of their people’s lives. They went to hear the news of the clans and share the news of their queen and the court’s decisions. Last year, Kalasin had sent money enough for Buri’s older brother to buy his supplies and a pledge of support into their clan’s warriors, and he was there now training. If all went well, in three years time he’d return to work alongside their mother as a guard to Kalasin. Buri was looking forward to seeing him again, to hear what it was like to spend the whole year with the clans. She’d missed him more than she’d thought she would, given that they’d never spent much time in each other’s company. She was anticipating seeing him more than anything else, above the annual exhibitions of the story-singers as they worked their way through the great histories of the clans. Even above the exhibitions of the horse-trainers and the warriors as they competed for the honor of their clans in the K’miri version of tournaments.

“Buri!” Thayet whined. Buri blinked, then reined in her horse. She had been urging her horse to greater speed unintentionally, in her excitement. She slowed down, after all, she did want be near enough to see Thayet’s reaction as they topped this last hill and spied the main camp below. They were almost there, and ahead of them, Buri could see the front of the procession cresting the hill and feel the excitement of the group rising.

Before she knew it, she and Thayet were at the top of the hill. Before them, spread out like a colorful carpet, was the main encampment, multi-colored tents pitched all around, dusty roads forming in the midst of camp from the constant tread of so many feet, pastures corded off and filled with horses and sheep. Beside here, Thayet squealed with glee.

Kalasin rode up alongside them. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked, looking at Thayet. “This is your home, my darling, and these are your people, just as much as the palace and your father’s family are.”

Buri looked over at Thayet as Kalasin spoke, and was caught by the thoughtful expression in Thayet’s eyes. Normally, the younger girl was laughing, merry and cheerful, not at all inclined to take things very seriously. But now Thayet’s face had lost all of her playful excitement, and instead she looked as though she was drinking in Kalasin’s words and the sight of the clans all at once.

“I know,” Thayet murmured, but did not elaborate. Buri didn’t think she’d ever seen Thayet quite so thoughtful, as she dropped the reins from one hand to finger the brow of her nose meditatively.

~~~~~~~~

Buri could hear the ring of swords behind her as she pushed a sobbing Thayet ahead down the passageway. Someone had betrayed the queen as she made her plans. Either that, or the Warlord was more paranoid and canny than they’d given him credit for, and had set mages to spy on her. In either case, their carefully thought-out plans had all been undone, and the most Kalasin had been able to spare her daughter had been a farewell and a mother’s kiss before they separated; Kalasin with Buri’s mother and brother up to the tower, and Thayet and Buri down towards the stables. Thayet had held back her tears bravely until they had separated, but since then she’d been inconsolable and incoherent.

They shouldn’t even be here now. Kalasin had planned for that aspect as well. A month ago, the Warlord had passed the laws that made it impossible for the K’miri clans to exist. After Kalasin and Thayet had begged him on bended knee to change the laws and failed to sway him, Kalasin started plotting. She had pulled Buri aside from the beginning, asking her to stay with Thayet throughout the coming months, even if it meant fleeing the country to keep Thayet safe. Buri hadn’t thought that her choice to stay with Thayet would even be in question, and had said so, indignant at the mere thought. Kalasin had only sighed sadly and said, “I wish others had your constancy, Buriram.”

Kalasin had sent letters to the Eldest Daughter of the Convent of the Mother of the Mountains, requesting they accept Thayet’s stay for a few months, to learn courtly social graces and such before her formal entry into court life. It was a flimsy pretext for sending Thayet out of the capital, and perhaps it was this request that had itself been what had alerted the Warlord to suspect Kalasin’s intentions.

Today, it had all fallen apart. They received word from one of their agents among the guards that the others had been rounded up for questioning, and Kalasin and Thayet had wasted no time. Kalasin refused to abandon her people with this last action, and there would be no hope for the K’mir if she were quietly placed under house arrest in the palace and barred from all action.

The sounds of the fight were fading out behind them. Buri had to remind herself that it was simply a sign that they were beyond earshot, and that it did not necessarily mean that the queen had failed to reach the tower. She’d already started grieving her mother and brother as well as the queen, knowing that no matter how this ended, they would either be dead, or facing a still worse fate. Her only priority right now had to be Thayet, had to be getting the still-young Princess out of the palace before it was too late.

They burst into the stables, each grabbing a rucksack packed in haste by the guard who had warned them. tThat same faithful guard had also readied their horses, which they found already saddled and provisioned. Buri was glad; the guard’s foresight would buy them some time. Buri practically threw Thayet into her saddle, trusting the years of ingrained K’mir training to keep Thayet going once she was ahorse. A vicious slap to the horse’s flank got her going, and Buri leapt upon her own horse and followed after. Sound carried well in the brisk spring air, even leaving aside the spells placed upon the tower to aid in proclamations. Buri could hear Kalasin’s voice, hoarse with grief, chanting behind them as they road. She urged Thayet onward, nudging their horses into the fastest safe stride in the city confines, but they couldn’t outride the sudden halt to Kalasin’s words; nor could they outdistance the horrified screams of the townspeople who would have gathered in the square below. Thayet fell silent then, as if she were now beyond the point of weeping.

Ten minutes later, they were out of the city’s main gates, away from immediate reprisals from the Warlord or the palace guard. Buri chanced a glance over at Thayet, worried about the lack of any sound, and flinched. She didn’t see the grief and anguish she’d expected, or even the confusion and fear that she herself was trying hard to stifle. Instead, there was a look of cold and implacable fury. In Thayet’s eyes, she saw the same determination and isolation that Kalasin had displayed throughout the past month.

Buri shuddered at the implication, and it was as if that one involuntary reflex set off a trigger within her. Moments later, she was sobbing herself, bent near double in the saddle, half-blinded by her tears, and furious with her own weakness in weeping. Thayet was beside her in an instant, slipping the reins out of her hands and leading the horses off the road. Buri felt a tug at her leg, and nearly fell out of the saddle into Thayet’s arms. And it was Thayet who was strong then, holding Buri as she wept late into the night, mourning the loss of mother, brother, and queen.


End file.
